A First Mate
by TimeyWimeyDetectiveinNightVale
Summary: After being shooed away to his room by his older brother, little six-year-old Sherlock thinks up the best sort of companion he'd have if he were a real pirate, sailing on the high seas, with someone who would never tell him to simply go away all the time.


A/N: Well... *Big breath* This is my very first ever piece of Sherlock fanfiction. I've already published it on my Wordpress, but only about two people read the damn blog on a regular basis, so... yeah. (Though if you're curious, the link to the blog is one my profile.)

* * *

"Mummy, he's doing it again!" complained Mycroft, slamming his book shut. "Would you get him out of my sight and earshot for at least a minimum of two minutes? I have studying to do for tomorrow's exams and his ridiculous, exasperatingly childish games are interfering with my concentration!"

For possibly the third time that afternoon, Mrs. Holmes hurried into one of the mansion's sitting rooms in return to her older son's protests. With a sigh, she asked what the trouble was this time.

"As per usual, the trouble is my younger brother," grumbled Mycroft, sending a scowl to the raven-haired boy who had slumped into an armchair with a huff.

"It's not my fault that hunting for treasure takes a lot of work," said Sherlock. "Mycroft won't be part of my pirate crew and I even said he could be first mate. Now he's just leaving all the work to me and Hamish." He hugged the stuffed hedgehog sitting on his lap. A tiny paper hat was placed atop the toy's head.

"Now, I've told you before, you _mustn't pester your brother when he's working, _Sherlock," Mrs. Holmes told him sternly. "And furthermore- "

"Mummy, _he's _the one who keeps shouting at me! He's being awful to Hamish and it's not Hamish's fault for anything. He's just upset because studying can't be fun at all, and he _still _won't play with me!" said Sherlock, a look of pleading in his eyes.

"I've significantly more important things to do than waste my time playing pretend with an irritating six-year-old," snapped Mycroft.

"Well, fine, you wouldn't make a good pirate anyway," Sherlock said sulkily, "because nobody would want to ever have someone so mean on their crew. I wouldn't want to share any treasure with you anyway- "

"That's quite enough, Sherlock. You're going to have to go play in your bedroom or out somewhere on the estate; your elder brother shouldn't be bothered," said Mrs. Holmes.

"But _Mummy- _"

"Off you go. This moment."

Sherlock hugged his stuffed toy even tighter as he stepped to the floor. With a sniffle into the furry fabric, he left the sitting room.

* * *

"Mycroft never wants to play with me," Sherlock said to his hedgehog glumly. "It's always 'go away' or 'I'm busy' or 'stop bothering me'. And Mummy always takes his side. She says Mycroft doesn't deserve to have me under his feet all the time because he's older and needs time to himself. He doesn't have any friends at _school, _so he's already got lots of time to himself. It's terribly unfair."

Hamish gazed at him with unblinking glass eyes.

"When I get older, a lot older, when I'm twenty- or maybe even thirty- I'll have a really good first mate and I'll be captain. He'll be nice and loyal, and he'll fight really well."

Sherlock jumped off his bed and walked to his desk. He pulled a sheet of paper and a pencil out of it and began to sketch.

"He'll listen to me, and won't tell me to shut up so much. He'll want to go on lots of adventures with me, and we'll get rid of all the enemies we'll encounter on the high seas. We'll get to tell everyone what to do because we'll be in charge and I won't just be Mycroft's odd little brother. Then, I'll be Captain Sherlock Holmes! What do you think, Hamish?"

The hedgehog gave no response, but it didn't matter to Sherlock, who was eagerly scribbling upon the paper.

"I'll only choose the very best," he said. "He'll be someone who's fought before because he's brave and strong. He's not scared of anything at all, except for maybe the really evil rivals we'll come across. But he'll defend us anyway and defeat them, because he's a very good soldier. And he'll be able to fix the crew up when they have wounds from any bad swordfights because… he's a doctor. A good doctor.

"He won't be as tall as me, I think, because I'm the captain," continued Sherlock. "And also I'll be a little more handsome. But he'll still be all right. And most important, he'll save me whenever I'm in trouble, and I'll save him too. Because we'll be best friends. How does that sound, Hamish?"

He held up his drawing for the toy to see. "Look, what do you think?"

It was a small, smiling figure with simple, ruffled hair. Sherlock thought that would be nice because his ownhair was much too curly and dark.

He frowned at the little hedgehog. "Of course he's wearing a jumper under his overcoat. He likes more comfortable things and he wears them all the time. He can fight better that way, Hamish. I've never seen you wear jumpers, so you can't talk.

"Come on, we can draw a treasure map this time. You can be the first mate I'll have when I grow up for now. Maybe we can search in Mycroft's room again for the treasure. He can be part of an enemy crew, trying to blow holes through my ship! Now, did you lose your hat again?"


End file.
